


Reaping the Reaper

by DeadMansQuestions



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Battle Couple, Canon-Typical Violence, Day 5: School/Tartarus, F/M, Implied/Referenced Sex, ShuyukaWeek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25482217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadMansQuestions/pseuds/DeadMansQuestions
Summary: S.E.E.S. prepares to face their greatest challenge yet. But Minato might have bitten more than he could chew, and Yukari is not happy about it one bit.Written for ShuYuka Week Day 5: School/Tartarus!
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Takeba Yukari, Persona 3 Protagonist/Takeba Yukari, Takeba Yukari/Yuuki Makoto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26
Collections: Shuyuka Week





	Reaping the Reaper

**_Adamah Block, Dark Hour_ **

_Cling…Cling…Cling…Cling…_ The sound of rattling chains echoed across the room.

Despite the darkness, Minato could feel its presence slowly coming closer and closer, like a serial killer taking their time approaching their next victim, relishing in the fear as the victims dreaded the inevitable.

Minato clenched the handle of his sabre tightly, so tightly that he was sure that his fingernails would end up drawing blood from his skin. A bead of sweat trickled down his brow.

They were approaching the ‘promised day’, January 31st. The whole of S.E.E.S. was exploring the remainder of Tartarus, in preparation for the inevitable conflict against Nyx.

It was then Minato proposed to the group something that could gauge their limits, to see if they could overcome this final hurdle. If they couldn’t, then there’s no way they would be able to defeat Nyx. Everyone knew what their field commander was referring to. And it was terrifying to think about it. Normally, whenever they explored Tartarus, they would always go in teams of four with Minato leading the charge. This was so the rest could conserve energy and provide backup whenever one of them is in no condition to fight. But this was a different case. They needed all the effort they could muster. Everyone was vital for this battle.

Throughout their time exploring Tartarus, Yukari recalled the warnings of staying on a single floor for far too long. She remembered killing intent that she had felt once those chains started clinging.

Emerging from the shadows is a truly terrifying being. It was a colossus, towering over them. It was dressed in a tattered black robe decorated in chains that seemed to be hovering over its torso; a bloodstained burlap sack completely covered its head with the sole exception being an eyehole on the left side of its face which glowed a sinister golden light. In its hands held dual revolvers, the barrels alone were almost as long as its own body.

Yukari froze as she saw the approaching abomination. Throughout her time in S.E.E.S., she had faced down many of the shadows that lurked in Tartarus. But this…! This thing was on a completely different level from anything they had faced. Even the 12 Shadows felt like pleasant daydreams compared to it.

The monster, the Reaper, let out a demonic roar. But it was a sound that no Shadow she had ever encountered could make. It was filled with anger, hate, and above all, a wanton desire for death and destruction.

 _“Watch out!”_ Fuuka cried out. _“It’s charging an attack!”_

As if on cue, the Reaper had started with a Mind Charge, surrounding itself with a glowing aura. It pointed one of its revolvers at the ceiling, firing off a burst of purple energy.

Megidoloan…!

“Scatter!” Minato shouted, though it did not take much for the rest of S.E.E.S. to comply and all of them leapt out of the way as the energy orb crashed on the very spot they were standing on.

“Holy shitballs…!” Junpei could only gape in horror at the smouldering crater formed on the very spot they had previously stood on.

Minato gritted his teeth. This was going to be far more difficult than he had expected, even with Elizabeth’s warnings back in the Velvet Room.

He turned to Yukari. “Yukari! You and Ken-kun stay back and provide healing support! The rest of us will go on the offensive!”

“Are you serious?! I’m going in as well. Against that thing? You’ll need all the help you can get!” she protested.

Minato shook his head. He knew how stubborn Yukari could be, but now is not the time. Not against something like this. “You’re our main healer, Yukari. I need you to keep everyone alive, that’s what’s important!”

“No!” Yukari wasn’t having any of it. “I can still –”

However, she was soon cut off by a nearby explosion. The Reaper had fired another powerful almighty spell that had narrowly missed Junpei.

Minato firmly gripped Yukari’s shoulder. “I think your point is now moot! Look, if one of its attacks hit any of us, it’s over!”

Yukari bit her lip, but she knew that Minato was right. “Fine. But be careful, okay?”

Minato nodded and prepared to re-join the battle when Yukari called out to him. “Oh… and Minato?”

He turned around to look back at her, only for him to yanked by the hem of his blazer into a passionate kiss. As quickly as it happened, they both pulled apart.

“For luck.” Yukari simply said, flushed.

Despite being momentarily caught off guard by his girlfriend’s sudden kiss, Minato gave another nod before charging at the Reaper.

* * *

The battle dragged on for quite some time now. The entire floor had been reduced to smouldering ruins.

Even with its stats lowered, the Reaper was still a force to be reckoned with. It was able to use all the elemental spells, deliberately targeting the weaknesses of each one of them. Yukari found herself repeatedly using her healing spells just to keep the team alive even as she started to feel the fatigue kicking in. Even Ken had to join into the fray just for an extra hand. But no matter how much they threw at it, the Reaper still stood strong.

Nonetheless, the rest of S.E.E.S. gave as good as they got, managing to score good hits on the monster. At their head was Minato, sword in one hand and his evoker in the other, desperately trying to catch his breath.

“Michael!” Minato summoned a bronze-skinned angelic being. The archangel lunged forward and brought down its spear on the Reaper.

The Reaper, however, pulled backwards and narrowly dodged the blow. But the spear nonetheless managed to collide with one of its revolvers. As sparks flew from the clash of metal, the barrel of the revolver was sliced off clean like a hot knife does with butter. The sliced-off barrel clattered harmlessly to the floor.

The monster emitted what seemed to be a growl of frustration as it held up what was left of its revolver, glowering at Minato. It let out another violent cry, enveloping itself with the same aura as before.

_“Watch out! It's charging up another spell!”_

The blue-haired field commander of S.E.E.S. however had prepared a Mind Charge of his own, concentrating as much energy as possible into one final spell. His finger delicately hovered over the trigger of his evoker, biding his time. He had no other choice; he had to seize the opening just before the Reaper could fire its attack, it was kill or be killed.

The Reaper levelled its remaining revolver at Minato, its finger ready to pull the trigger. Minato tensed up and raised the evoker to his temple.

But its single eye then glanced sideways, to Minato’s horror, where Yukari was standing. However, she was too preoccupied healing Akihiko who had earlier been hit by an ice spell to notice the Reaper’s attention had now been focused on her instead.

 _Damn it!_ Minato cursed inwardly to himself. The monster somehow knew that Yukari was the one healing them. He had to act fast or else it’s too late.

 _“Yukari-chan!”_ Fuuka cried out. _“It’s aiming at you!”_

Yukari’s widened in horror as she saw the Reaper levelling its revolver at her. But Minato knew that even if she ran, the blast radius would still be large enough to hit her.

 _No time to switch Personas!_ Minato thought. He summoned Michael once again. The archangel charged at the Reaper and thrust its spear forward.

Jamming it right into the muzzle of the revolver.

Time seemed to stop at that moment. The barrel of the revolver suddenly contorted and ballooned with pure energy; had it not been for the dire situation they were in right now, it would have seemed comical.

And a mighty explosion immediately followed, engulfing both the Reaper and Michael. But that was not the end of it. The resulting shockwave spread across the entire floor. Everyone quickly braced themselves against the shockwave, but the overwhelming force quickly flung them backwards like leaves in a hurricane.

Yukari wheezed as she staggered back to her feet, leaning against one of the toppled pillars to support her exhausted body. She glanced around her; to her relief, the rest of S.E.E.S., despite being hit by the shockwave, were relatively unharmed as they got back up on their feet as well.

“Takeba!” Mitsuru called out to Yukari, coughing as she waved away the dust. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah!” she answered.

But her heart briefly stopped as someone was not among them. _Minato…! Where is he?!_ He had been the closest to the explosion. As the dust cleared, Yukari squinted her eyes to where the explosion had occurred.

Yukari’s stomach lurched as she saw the sight before her. Minato lay motionless on the floor. His S.E.E.S. uniform is in tatters, either ripped from the force of the shockwave or singed by the explosion.

“Minato!” Yukari screamed out, desperately hoping that he would respond.

 _“Don’t worry! I can still feel his signal. It’s still strong!”_ Fuuka said. _“But so is –”_

_He’s still alive… Thank God!_

But her relief was short-lived as a figure emerged from the crater of the explosion. The Reaper was still alive. But it definitely did not come out of there unscathed. Its already tattered robes were completed charred, wisps of smoke indicating that it had been severely burned. Black shrapnel were pierced all over its body, probably fragments of its revolver. But the most obvious sign of injury was its arm, or rather, what’s left of it. Black ooze, which reminded Yukari of the shadows, dripped from the stump.

Another blood-curdling shriek came out from the Reaper before it lunged forward, remaining arm outstretched.

It charged towards Minato’s crumpled form, ready to grab and crush him in its grip.

Only to find an arrow pierced into its eye.

The Reaper shrieked as it halted its charge, clutching at the arrow embedded into its socket in a desperate attempt to yank it out to no avail.

“Get the hell away from him!” Yukari seethed in fury as she lowered her bow.

With her evoker in hand, she summoned Isis. A gust of green wind enveloped the Reaper, pushing it back away from Minato.

Glaring with an intensity to match Yukari’s own, Mitsuru declared as she fired her evoker, “You’ve done enough harm, monster! Artemisia!”

The green wind soon turned into a blizzard, encasing the Reaper in ice that left the monster unable to move.

With the force of a runaway freight train, the combined force of Athena and Trismegistus collided into the Reaper that pushed it back even further.

But the assault was not yet over. With a furious howl, Koromaru summoned Cerberus. The three-headed dog casted an Agidyne, fire bursting from where the Reaper stood. It flailed helplessly as its body became engulfed in flames.

It was then Minato staggered back to his feet. It had to take as much willpower as he could muster just to stand up. Despite his wounds and the throbbing of his head, however, his mind was still concentrated for that final spell he had been planning to unleash. With the Reaper preoccupied with the flames, now was the right time.

“Akihiko! Ken! Now!” Minato screamed as he pointed his evoker at his temple. Akihiko and Ken determinedly nodded as they stepped forward alongside Minato and summoned their Personas.

“ **ODIN!** ” Minato bellowed as he summoned the head of the Norse pantheon, Gungnir held proudly in his hand.

“Yaaaaah!” The three of them shouted as the combined forces of their personas prepared their final attack. A massive bolt of lightning, far bigger than the Reaper itself, crashed down on the monster like a bolt of divine retribution.

The smoke cleared. Minato gritted his teeth as he saw the monster lay crumpled at the centre of the crater. It was still alive, but its body was crackling with electricity, twitching helplessly and struggling to stagger back to its feet.

 _“It’s paralysed now! One final blow should do it!”_ Fuuka called out.

It was now or never.

“ **THANATOS!** ”

Minato had summoned his ace, his trump card, to deliver the coup de grace. The demon-like monster, with an ear-splitting howl, charged forward. In a split second, Thanatos had appeared in front of the Reaper, its glistening blade raised in the air before swinging the killing blow.

In a single stroke, Thanatos sliced into the Reaper’s neck and cleaved through the rest. The Black ooze sprayed like a freshly opened bottle of champagne as the Reaper’s head flew from the rest of its body. The severed head toppled to the floor, bouncing harmlessly like a basketball.

The body hadn’t even touched the floor before it evaporated into a wisp of black smoke along with its head. All that remained was a single bloodied button.

Thanatos let out a triumphant roar before fading away. Minato panted heavily, his body slouched forward as he lacked the strength to even stand up straight, more exhausted than he’d ever been. His body was too tired to even tremble. He had given everything he had, but in the end, they had done it. They had overcome the final hurdle.

As the wave of exhaustion overwhelmed him, Minato’s body fell backwards, but he was caught by Akihiko before he could hit the floor. “Hey!” He heard Akihiko’s voice call out to him. “Just hold on a bit longer.”

“Minato!” Yukari screamed. She along with the rest of S.E.E.S. ran towards them as Akihiko gently lowered his body to the floor, his free hand supporting Minato’s head.

Yukari put her hands to her mouth to suppress a scream as she saw Minato’s state. Blood, dirt and ash coated his uniform. The sleeves were completely burnt, exposing most of his arm which were similarly caked in dust. Blood dripped heavily from his temple as the result of an open gash there, and he was soaked in sweat.

Aigis rushed forward to Minato’s side, her scanning Minato’s form as she helped Akihiko support him. Her hands trembled as she held the back of Minato’s head.

“Minato-san is okay.” Aigis said. Despite her usual monotonous tone, Yukari could easily detect the quavering in the android’s voice. “He has sustained major bruising all over his body due to the shockwave, as well as some major cuts. But his condition is stable nonetheless…”

 _Thank God_ … Yukari choked as she suppressed the tears in her eyes.

“What are you doing, Yukari?!” Akihiko’s voice snapped her out of her funk. “We need to heal his wounds before he bleeds out!”

“R-Right!” Yukari nodded as she rushed to Minato’s side. Now was not the time for weakness.

Summoning Isis once again, Yukari cast a Diarahan spell, enveloping Minato in a divine glow as the cuts and burn marks slowly faded away. As the light finally dissipated, Minato’s eyes opened despite being hazed over by sweat. Slowly, his arms moved to help prop himself up.

Only to find a pair of arms wrap tightly around him.

“Yu-Yukari…! You’re crushing me!” Minato wheezed. He sometimes forgot that Yukari had surprisingly strong arms due to her use of the bow.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry!” Yukari yelped concernedly as she pulled away from Minato. But she quickly fumed and proceeded to swat Minato on the shoulder. “Wait! No, I’m not sorry! What the hell were you thinking?! You’ve could have gotten yourself killed!”

“She’s right, man!” Junpei chimed in, rubbing his eye. “What you did was batshit insane!”

Even Mitsuru joined in, giving Minato her signature icy glare, though her eyes seemed to mist up as well. “It was reckless! If you pull another stunt, I would have to revoke your position as field commander!”

“ _I-I’m so glad you’re okay, Minato-kun_!” Fuuka choked.

“Still…” Mitsuru frowned. “We shouldn’t stay here any longer before any more shadows appear. I doubt any of us, much less Arisato, are in any condition to continue fighting. And I believe we won’t be exploring Tartarus until we have sufficiently recovered.”

She was right. They had all been so caught up in the adrenaline of the fight that they had neglected to notice their current state. While still better off than Minato, they were completely caked in blood and dust, all battered and bruised.

The rest of S.E.E.S. nodded. Once they collected their trophy, the bloodied button, they prepared to depart to the nearest teleport terminal. Yukari volunteered to help Minato, slinging his arm over her shoulder so he could stand upright. Although his wounds were healed, he was still completely drained from the fighting and could barely stand on his own.

As they walked, Minato murmured something.

“Yukari…”

Yukari stopped and turned to look at her boyfriend, a sombre expression on his face. “Yes?” she asked concernedly.

“I’m sorry… for making you worried.” He said. “When the Reaper was about to attack you… I stopped thinking. All that came to my head was to protect you... If anyone, especially you, got hurt… or worse, I –”

“Damn it, Minato…” Yukari cut him off. Tears trickled down her face, but despite that a smile appeared on her face. “You don’t always have to be the hero. This isn’t something you should bear all by yourself. We’re your friends, and we’re girlfriend and boyfriend… we’re all in this together.”

“But still…” she continued; her gaze averted as her cheeks turned a rosy pink. “thanks.”

She leaned forward and planted a kiss on Minato’s cheek, causing him to flush as well. She huskily whispered into his ear. “Once you’re better, I’ll think of a way to repay you. Perhaps in a way you know best…”

Minato couldn’t help but chuckle at Yukari’s proposition. “If that’s your way of repaying me, then perhaps I should find more ways to save you.”

“Hey, this is just a one-time thing, okay? Don’t get yourself killed for something like that.” She scolded.

“Dude.” Junpei deadpanned, standing right behind the couple. “Can you both at least wait until we’ve reached the dorm? We’ve got a kid around here, after all.”

“Shut up, Stupei!”

**Author's Note:**

> Phew! To be honest, I almost forgot that ShuYuka week was here! And I found myself scrambling for ideas on what to write, and got hit with a few writing blocks along the way. But then I decided to do an action fic, since I don't really write any fight scenes in my stories if at all, so I thought that this might be the best opportunity for me to do the prompt for today.
> 
> But anyways, I've hoped that you've enjoyed it. And happy ShuYuka week to my fellow supporters! I feel like this ship doesn't get a lot of recognition, and I'm glad that there are people out there who are giving it a little more love.


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